KNIGHT LAW OFFICES, LLC ~ PAUL KNIGHT, ATTORNEY AT LAW

Knight Law Offices LLC may be able to help you stop a foreclosure.  As your mortgage foreclosure attorney, I can determine whether you have a legal foreclosure defense and advise you as to how to stop the foreclosure process. Some of the defenses to a Wyoming mortgage foreclosure action are listed below.

Foreclosure Against a Service member on Active Duty
In Wyoming, foreclosures can take place using a court (judicial foreclosure) or by notice and public auction using the power of sale clause in a mortgage (non- judicial foreclosure). If you're on active military duty and you entered into your mortgage before you were on active duty, the Service members Civil Relief Act (SCRA) requires that your foreclosure must take place in court even if your mortgage contains a power of sale. If a foreclosure is started while you're on active duty, you can automatically receive a nine-month postponement of the proceeding by requesting it from the court.

The Foreclosing Party Didn't Follow Wyoming Foreclosure Procedures
Where the foreclosing party doesn't follow Wyoming statutory requirements for bringing a foreclosure action, you may be able to challenge the foreclosure. If your challenge is successful, the court will issue an order requiring the foreclosing party to start over. Most courts will overlook errors that are inconsequential, such as the misspelling of a name, but more substantial errors may provide you with a defense to the foreclosure.

The Foreclosing Party Can't Prove It Owns the Mortgage
If your mortgage, like many, has been sold and bought by many different banks, lenders, and investors, proving just who owns it may be difficult for the last holder in the chain. In many instances, the holder of the promissory note no longer owns the mortgage preventing the mortgage holder from foreclosing.

The Mortgage Servicer Error
Mortgage servicers (companies who contract with banks and other lenders to receive and disburse mortgage payments) often make mistakes when dealing with borrowers.  You may be able to challenge a Wyoming foreclosure based on mistakes such as:

• crediting your payments to the wrong party
• imposing excessive fees or fees not authorized by the lender or owner, or
• substantially overstating the amount you must pay to reinstate your mortgage.

Lender Engaging in Unfair Lending Practices
Where your lender violated federal or Wyoming laws designed to protect borrowers from illegal lending practices you may be able to prevent the foreclosure. Federal laws that protect against unfair lending practices associated with residential mortgages and loans include the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and an amendment to TILA commonly termed the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA). Lenders violate TILA when they don't make certain disclosures in the mortgage documents, including the annual percentage rate, the finance charge, the amount financed, the total payments, the payment schedule, and more.
In the case of loans covered by HOEPA, lenders must comply with various notice provisions and are prohibited from using certain mortgage practices, such as balloon payments, in loans with terms of less than five years.